Having already recorded a song for my favourite television show in ‘Game Of Thrones’, my favourite band, The National, have now recorded a song for my second favourite television show, ‘Boardwalk Empire’. That’s a lot of favourites.

Musically speaking, I think my entire prior life had just been a warmup for this year. With only a few exceptions, you could pretty much name this list the ‘Best Gigs Of My Life’ and it would still be accurate. Many of these gigs have given me moments and memories that will stay with me forever, and more than anything they demonstrated just how powerful, important, and magical music can be.

Long-winded generic text about how it’s been a good year for music, Australian music in particular. Disclaimer that all lists such as this are inherently subjective and should be treated as opinion rather than fact. Media whore invite to please share this list with as many people as possible and/or to leave you opinion in the comments. Comparison to previous years. Snide joke at Pitchfork’s expense. Okay, that should just about cover it.

I’ve been a big fan of American singer/songwriter Sharon Van Etten since I was introduced to her music through her collaboration with The National on their track Think You Can Wait. And now it appears that The National are returning the favour, as brothers Bryce and Aaron Dessner are among the incredible list of musicians who will make contributions to Sharon Van Etten’s new album, ‘Tramp’, which is due out February 2012. Also on that list is Zach Condon, Julianna Barwick, and The Walkman’s Matt Barrick, among many others. Today we got the first taste of ‘Tramp’, the single ‘Serpents’.

This track hit the interwebs a couple of weeks ago but I completely missed it, which means, hey, you might just have missed it as well. In which case I am happy to present to you a new studio recording from the greatest band in the world, The National, performing a cover of a Philistines Jr. track, ‘Twenty Miles To NH Part 2’. And holy shit what a cover it is.

Contact

I can be reached at andpluckyourstrings@gmail.com. I cannot get around to all the music that I am sent but I will do my best. All music posted here is designed to promote artists, however will of course be removed upon request.